Julie Berry: Not just the lie but what he told me he based...he used to keep me in the game. He said he used our friendship and that I meant something. So I wish he would have said something less as important to me than to say "this is why I'm keeping you in the game". He kind of just threw me out the door based on our friendship. So I really took it personally.

Julie Chen: Is there such a thing as friendship in Survivor, in this game?

Julie Berry: Very much so, very much so. In a social context you naturally get drawn to people. And you do, you go through all of these hardships, you disclose, you trust, you do have to trust. It's just a matter of knowing where people draw their line. That's where it's just impossible to tell. So... Julie Chen: Ok, then the question is, now that he did this, do you think there will be a friendship with him after we determine the winner Sunday night and all that?

Julie Berry: You know, I have a lot of questions about it. I'm still really hurt, so...

Julie Chen: But what about that comment you made when you won the Reward Challenge and you had to pick someone, you said "well it's ironic because none of these people would pick me"...made it look like "I don't like any of them and they don't like me, I'm just gonna...eeenie, meanie, minnee, ok Chris"

Julie Berry: Well, no there was strategy behind that and I enjoyed Chris the most of those people. We do laugh, we slap each other around. We had an interesting relationship. Not only do I enjoy him but it's my only chance to stay in the game, too.

Julie Chen: Is this going to come back to haunt him if he makes it to the Final 2?

Julie Berry: I hope so! <laughs>

Julie Chen: He wronged you and you can even the score, darn it!

Julie Berry: Yeah, yeah.

Julie Chen: What was your strategy when you were out there. You know we saw the nude sunbathing from you.

Julie Berry: Right, tanning the cheeks.

Julie Chen: All four of them. But you know, you're very attractive. Was that part of the strategy?

Julie Berry: Ummm, you know, going into Survivor, you know the definition of "Outwit, outlast, outplay" yet you get out there and you get warped into this world and I was 100% there and I knew, I've watched all the Survivors, yet I still got jaded, I still got attached to people. And the whole sunbathing, if I was on an island by myself with no cameras I would have sunbathed, too. That's just me, I was enjoying the moment. I didn't really think much about it.

Julie Chen: What about the flirting. Because Sarge thought when the tribes merged...

Julie Berry: I did the lean on Sarge's leg, there was a lot of talk about that, right. Ummm, hum. I just...

Julie Chen: Was it a deliberate lean?

Julie Berry: No...

Julie Chen: You just being you?

Julie Berry: Just me being me and I enjoyed everybody there. So it's really harmless but maybe it is embedded in me more than I realize and people...he obviously had a reaction over it. So...which was interesting.

Julie Chen: I want to go back a couple of weeks because I have a theory why Chris might have voted you out. Remember when you and Leann went on the trip and you brought back chicken bones for the guys? But meat for the women. Maybe this is his payback.

Julie Berry: I don't think he ever knew.

Julie Chen: That's right, it was a secret... it never came out. Well then maybe it's karma! <laughter>

Julie Berry: Probably!

Julie Chen: What do you make of the Final Four? We've got Twila/Scout who are shoulder to shoulder. Chris who looks like he's shoulder to shoulder with them. And Eliza. Is Eliza like... she has to win immunity challenges from here on out to make it or what?

Julie Berry: You know, there's no predictability at all. I mean look at Leann, completely ousted and surprised. Anything can happen and immunity definitely plays a huge role. And you don't really know how tight Twila/Scout or Chris are.

Julie Chen: Well you made it 36 days, so close and yet so far. Julie Berry, thanks so much.

Judy and Les Berry, right, react Thursday night as their daughter Julie is voted off the television show "Survivor." Linda and Jeff Sanborn, the Berrys' next-door neighbors in Gorham, share the sentiment.

Les and Judy Berry talk with Julie, who was in New York City preparing to appear this morning on the CBS "Early Show."

The Berry home in Gorham attracts a big crowd Thursday night for the last show before Sunday's $1 million finale.

GORHAM — Les and Judy Berry sat on their couch and clutched each other nervously Thursday night as the final votes were cast to determine whether their daughter Julie would make it to Sunday's finale of the CBS show "Survivor." "When she was a teenager, she made my heart stop so many times," said Judy Berry. "Now she's making my heart stop again."

Moments later, her daughter was voted out of the competition and denied the $1 million grand prize.

The 3-2 vote against Julie set off a chorus of boos and even some tears from neighbors gathered in the living room of the Berrys' home in Gorham. After a few moments of disappointment and anger - the latter aimed at the man who cast the deciding vote - the gathering, and particularly Berry's parents, lavished praise on the local who outlasted 13 other contestants.

"We're just so incredibly proud of her," her mother said. "We knew Julie was a tough girl." She reasoned that Julie was voted out because "she was a threat" to the other contestants.

Julie, 23, grew up in Gorham and graduated from Gorham High School in 1999. She is an American Indian from the Maliseet Tribe and was adopted by the Berrys.

"Survivor" is a contest that mixes physical challenges with the need to form personal alliances with people.

Julie has known the outcome of the vote for some time because this season's "Survivor" was filmed on the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu over 39 days in June, July and August. But contestants are prohibited from disclosing the results. Julie did a good job, with her parents both completely in the dark.

They called their daughter afterward, who, as it turns out, was in New York City preparing to appear on the CBS "Early Show" this morning.

"We love you so much. . . . I wish we could give you a hug," her mother said into the telephone. "You kept a great secret."

"We never saw it coming," her father said.

Julie worried they might be disappointed. Then, comforted, she asked her mother to relay thanks to the houseful of friends.

The neighbors had made a ritual of gathering every Thursday night to watch the show. What started as chips and dip became a full spread with turkey, stuffing and several desserts. Outside the Berry home, tiki torches burned alongside the driveway in honor of the show's tropical theme.

The mood was buoyant early in the show. The group cheered as Julie progressed in a physical contest early in the episode, and there was mayhem when she won the challenge.

Mike Marchand likened it to Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri kicking the winning field goal in the Super Bowl.

Russell Frank thought it resembled a night in Portland's Old Port.

On the show, Julie chose to take Chris, the only remaining male in the group, along for the adventure she had won.

The pair rode horseback to the top of an island volcano, cooked foot-long hot dogs over steam vents and then watched spectacular nighttime eruptions of lava. The friendship they developed may have been genuine, but as he cast his vote against her, Chris said it was all about advancing in the game.

The Gorham crowd was not forgiving.

"Chris, you pig," said Jeanine Chesley.

"I'm not very happy about this," said Sue Dunn. "It's just heartbreaking. She used to babysit my children. Obviously the nice girl doesn't win."

They comforted themselves with the knowledge that Julie was probably voted off because she posed a threat to the others.

This weekend, Berry's parents will fly to Los Angeles for the show's live finale when the votes cast for the $1 million winner will be revealed.

There were 18 original contestants, with at least one being voted off by the others each week. The episodes have aired weekly since Sept. 16.

The finale, where the final four contestants will compete for the $1 million prize, will air Sunday at 8 p.m. Locally it can be seen on WGME-TV (Channel 13).

This is the ninth edition of "Survivor" but only the second time a Mainer has been a contestant. In 2002, Zoe Zanidakis of Monhegan Island made it through nine of 12 episodes before being voted off.

surviordude_JT

Julie Berry: Not just the lie but what he told me he based...he used to keep me in the game. He said he used our friendship and that I meant something. So I wish he would have said something less as important to me than to say "this is why I'm keeping you in the game". He kind of just threw me out the door based on our friendship. So I really took it personally.